Father of fallen Chicago firefighter in West Pullman blaze honors son and finds strength in faith: ‘When God calls, we’ve got to answer’

A 49-year-old Chicago firefighter who walked his daughter down the aisle at her wedding last fall was killed Tuesday in a fire in the West Pullman neighborhood, fire officials said, leaving his family and fellow firefighters shaken by the loss.

Jermaine Pelt was identified as the firefighter who was fatally injured, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesperson Larry Langford said. Two other firefighters were injured.

Pelt was born and raised in the West Pullman neighborhood, the same area where he devoted his adult life to help and save others as a firefighter, said his father, John Pelt.

On Tuesday, the grieving father said he found comfort by surrounding himself with firefighters who’d worked with his son at Firehouse Engine 115 and 75, the area where Pelt served most of his 18 years in the Fire Department and where he took his last call.

Though the family is broken by the tragedy, they are finding strength in their faith, he said.

“When God calls, we’ve got to answer,” Pelt said in front of the firehouse at 1024 W. 119th St. Last November, Jermaine Pelt had walked his only daughter down the aisle, his father said.

Shortly after 3:30 a.m., firefighters were called to a frame house at 12015 S. Wallace St., where a heavy fire was on the second floor and in the attic. Officials said the fire spread to homes north and south of the building and Pelt went down on a hose line.

Two adults and two children were displaced by the fire.

The youngest of four sons, Pelt was smart, ambitious and “the kindest person I’ve ever met,” said his father.

Growing up, Pelt spent his summers working for his father, a retired Chicago Transit Authority motorman. He then became a locomotive engineer before deciding to join the Chicago Fire Department.

But he was more than just a firefighter, said Capt. Rory Ohse, who worked alongside him.

“He had a devotion to this job and this neighborhood,” Ohse said. Pelt lived, worked and worshipped in West Pullman. He was also a registered nurse and a paramedic and had recently become an instructor at the city’s fire academy.

Pelt graduated from Corliss High School and attended Olive-Harvey College.

After the news of his death, department members decided to keep the firehouse open despite their grief because that is what Pelt would have done, Ohse said.

“I want to continue doing what we do because that takes the pain away a little bit,” Ohse said.

On his last Sunday there, Pelt cooked for his firehouse family: barbecued, fried and jerk chicken with cornbread.

“He was a hell of a cook,” Lt. David Bernicky said with a smile. Though Bernicky worked with Pelt for only a few years, he had known him for more than 15.

“I’m leaving with a lot of love,” Pelt’s father said as he turned to the firefighters who surrounded him, arms on his shoulder — the same ones who last saw his son.

Anthony Moore, who bought the property at 12017 S. Wallace in 2021, said he was in the process of fixing up the building so he could rent it out.

Moore said he got several phone calls early Tuesday from a neighbor across the street, telling him that his building caught fire after the blaze spread from the property to the north. Moore said he’s still unclear on the cause, and he’s waiting for an update from the Fire Department.

“I couldn’t see what was going on because everything was going up in flames when I got there,” Moore said Tuesday afternoon. “It’s a nightmare. I’ve been working to finally get it (the property) together and just keep on moving, you know, get some tenants in there and keep going.”

Though both the Fire Department and Moore said the fire started at 12015 S. Wallace, the owner of that property, Terry Blevens, said he believed the blaze originated at the building owned by Moore.

“They probably got the address wrong,” Blevens said. “If it started in my building, how (did the other) building burn up, but mine didn’t?”

County property records show that Blevens acquired the 12015 property in 2021. Between October 2013 and August 2015, inspectors for the city’s Buildings Department cited the building for building code violations related to plumbing and electrical work.

Fire Commissioner Annette Nance-Holt spoke at a news conference Tuesday in front of Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, after Pelt’s death was announced.

Nance-Holt said Pelt had celebrated his 49th birthday in March. She added that Pelt had two children, one grown and a 6-year-old, and that his daughter was on her honeymoon.

Langford said that state and federal officials were investigating to determine the cause of the fire.

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